INNER TERRAIN

Lenten Practice: Holy AttentionDaily Act: Spend at least 10 minutes outside just noticing creation. What do you see that you normally don’t notice or take the time to appreciate?Weekly Prayer Phrase: Repeat this phrase slowly as you breathe deeply. You may choose to memorize this phrase and repeat it throughout your day.

“AWAKEN ME TO YOUR PRESENCE IN AND THROUGH ALL CREATION.”

Today’s blog is a poem by Zac Harmon-McLaughlin, a Missionary Coordinator for Community of Christ (EGLMC). As you dwell in holy attention today, what is revealed to you through creation? How do the natural processes of the earth slow your own pace and humble you into awareness of the holy? How does the outer terrain impact your inner terrain?

“The wide-open vistas that sustain our souls, the depth of silence that pushes us toward sanity, return us to a kind of equilibrium. We stand steady on Earth. The external space I see is the internal space I feel.” Terry Tempest Williams (p.158, Red: Passion and Patience In The Desert)

My Inner Terrain
by Zac Harmon-McLaughlin

If God is a mountain,
Would that make me a rock on God’s cliffed edge?

If God is the desert,
Would I then be a grain of sand on God’s cathedral floor?

If God is the thick and mighty forest,
Would I be a perfected leaf on God’s outreached branch?

If God is the ocean,
Would I find myself as a piece of seaweed dancing to God’s purposeful rhythm?

If God is the beautiful island,
Would I be part of the vibrant greenery that makes God lush and peaceful?

If God is the field,
Would I sit in with the congregation of soil making life possible?

Regardless of this inner terrain,
I rest in the peace that I am part of God.